Houston Babies
aly&jj
member
Has anyone had a med-free delivery at The Woman's Hospital?
aly&jj
member
Hi, I don't post here much, but I was just wondering if any of you ladies had had a med-free birth at the Woman's Hospital, and if so was it a positive experience. I have been reading so much about how lots of doctor's/nurses push meds on patients, and it's worrying me. I have told my Dr. what my preferences are, but we haven't really talked about it. I would really appreciate hearing what your experiences have been. Thanks : )
DD 1 - Aug. 2010
DD 2 - Jan. 2013
Baby Boy - EDD April 12, 2015
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Has anyone had a med-free delivery at The Woman's Hospital?
i labored for 17 hours unmedicated (full labor, not early labor). had the boy decided to actually enter the birth canal at some point, i would have had a natural birth.
i found the staff (nurses, etc) at the hospital to be completely accomodating and the decisions are made by you and your OB. it really has little to do with the hospital.
I disagree, I think the hospital does matter. Your OB's instructions are great, and I'm sure your nurses at any hospital will follow them. But most OBs are not there for most of your labor... will the nurses suggest positions for you to try? Are they supportive? Will they make sarcastic comments about your med-free attempts like mine did at Womans? Hospital guidelines/rules also come into play.
I wanted a med-free birth, but I didn't make it even as long as Rayskit did - about 14hr from pit induction to c/s. I did not attempt med-free for my vbac (which was not at Womans).
Also, make sure you look into the policies for the "mandatory observation period" at Womans compared to other hospitals in the med center. There's quite a difference between them. It's not a big deal to everyone, but you should know what it is and decide.
If you don't mind me asking, what what the reason for the Pitocin? I am so worried that they are going to try and scare me into it, and then I will have to get the epidural or deal with even worse contractions.
The other problem is that I am already 24 weeks and my doctor only delivers at Woman's. I think it would be too late to switch doctors now.I am also not crazy about the mandatory observation period, I really don't want the baby to leave our room unless absolutely necessary.
It's never to late to switch doctors. There are a ton of great doctors that deliver at both St Lukes & Methodist. Neither of those hospitals have a mandatory observation period. Methodist does require an hour recovery away from the baby if you have a c/s (but they're flexible on that. Mine was less than 45 minutes.) St Lukes will keep the baby in the OR with you if both of you are healthy and stable.
One thing to look in to, or rather, just keep in mind because I don't think there are any hospitals that don't have this policy, is their monitoring policies. Most hospitals have a policy requiring constant fetal heart rate monitoring when you're admitted in labor. This isn't really dependent on your OB or your birth wishes, but is standard hospital policy.
If you want med free, regardless of your hospital preference, the best thing you can do for yourself is to hire a doula. The stats just show that women with doulas are more likely to go med free and have an intervention free birth than women who don't have them.
j+k+m+e | running with needles
I was being induced for PIH... which was only a borderline case and in hindsight I would have pushed back on, but that's a whole different story and has to do with my OB rather than the hospital.
I switched OBs late in my 2nd pg. It's not that big of a deal. Really. Do not worry at all about what the doctor thinks, mostly likely they won't even think twice about it. You wouldn't be asking about this if you didn't have doubts. If you need to switch doctors and hospitals to get a better shot at the birth that you want, then do it.
Oh, and I agree with Kat, get a doula if you can. I didn't have one but I think it would help.
One of my close girlfriends had drug free birth at Women's. She said she had a good all around experience. She did hire a doula, but something happened and the doula couldn't make it there for the birth!